What does your SEO team need to know about earned media?

By On Top of PR

November 3, 2026

In this solocast, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses how public relations drives awareness, credibility, trust, and demand to create measurable business outcomes beyond media coverage.

Tune in to learn more!

Watch the episode here:

5 things you’ll learn during the full episode:

Why about 84% of AI citations come from earned media and only about 15% from your own website
How SEO and PR can divide the work based on the questions people ask AI
Why writing press releases for AI agents is a weak strategy
Four steps to turn your announcement into news reporters cover
How to set expectations with your CMO for time, control, and measurement

Listen to the episode here:

Quotables

"Collaborate with public relations. Not instead of SEO. With SEO." — @jasonmudd9
"Search needs public relations more than ever. Public relations needs search too." — @jasonmudd9
"You build the foundation. We earn the third-party proof." — @jasonmudd9
"You should be writing for journalists, not for AI agents." — @jasonmudd9
"Stop asking reporters to promote your company. Start giving them a reason to include you in their news stories." — @jasonmudd9
"Reporters don't promote companies. They tell stories." — @jasonmudd9

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.

Resources

Guest’s contact info and resources:

Additional Resources:

If you like this episode, you're going to love this:

Recorded: June 15, 2026

Find more On Top of PR episodes on:

Google Podcasts

Transcript

Episode Transcript

00:00:00

Jason Mudd

If you lead search engine optimization, 2027 brings a tough question. Your CMO might ask, "What are we doing about AI?" Here's my answer. Collaborate with public relations, not instead of SEO, with SEO. Search needs public relations more than ever. Public relations needs search too. Let me show you the data, and then I'll show you how to do it right.

00:00:30

Jason Mudd

Hi, I'm Jason Mudd with Axia Public Relations. You're listening to On Top of PR. Today I'm flying solo. This episode is for search engine optimization professionals and the chief marketing officers and business executives who rely on them.

00:00:44

Jason Mudd

Here's why I'm recording it. Last quarter, our biggest source of new revenue came from search engine optimization firms. They hired us to run media relations for their clients. I respect that move. It's smart, it's collaborative, and it protects their clients.

00:00:59

Jason Mudd

Before we dig in, I have a quick request. If this episode helps you, please pause and leave a review right here in the app where you're listening or watching. Every review enters you in our monthly drawing for On Top of PR swag. If you prefer, visit ratethispodcast.com/ontopofpr or follow the link in the episode notes. Your review helps more marketing, public relations, and communication leaders find our show.

00:01:28

Jason Mudd

Now, the data. Muck Rack just released its latest What Is AI Reading? report on Wednesday. I'm recording this on Oct. 31, so it just came out a few days ago. I've been posting about it on LinkedIn. If you don't follow me yet on LinkedIn, take a moment, pause, and follow me. I'm at linkedin.com/in/jasonmudd. Every day, I post the newest topics, tips, trends, and insights for the public relations profession. I think you'll benefit from following me there if you're not already. While you're there, take a moment and follow On Top of PR or Axia Public Relations, your choice.

00:02:10

Jason Mudd

All right. So they just released the latest What Is AI Reading? report. It analyzed more than 40 million AI responses from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. About 84% of citations come from earned media coverage. About 99% come from nonpaid sources. Meanwhile, paid and advertorial content registers at only 0.3%. Press releases register at about 1%. Your own website accounts for about 15%. Muck Rack and other professionals like us call that owned media.

00:02:52

Jason Mudd

That 15% matters. You can control it. You can improve it this week. It's also one slice of a bigger pie.

00:03:01

Jason Mudd

Now let me be precise, because search engine optimization professionals check the math. You should too. Muck Rack defines earned media broadly. It includes journalism. It also includes academic research, government and nonprofit sources, Wikipedia, social platforms, and third-party blogs. Journalism alone makes up about 22% of citations. That's down from about 27% in their May report. Other earned sources absorbed the difference.

00:03:34

Jason Mudd

So earned media is bigger than news coverage. Public relations, the profession I'm in, also called media relations when we're talking about earned media, earns those same mentions. That's trade articles, expert quotes, podcast appearances, and third-party guides that name you, your company, your organization, your experts, your executives, your spokesperson, your thought leaders, and your key opinion leaders.

00:04:00

Jason Mudd

Muck Rack's Matt Dzugan told me he finds this grouping fair, meaning the slice that isn't earned is mainly branded content that companies publish on their own sites. That's the territory you know well. But it accounts for only about 15% of the overall recipe for generative engine optimization. And I think that's important.

00:04:30

Jason Mudd

Here's the part I want search engine optimization, or SEO, pros to hear. At best, on-site optimization touches that 15% of citations from your own website. So technical SEO still matters. Structured data, frequently asked questions, and clean site architecture help AI find and extract your content. They can't create the coverage that earns the citation in the first place. That's where we, public relations and search engine optimization professionals, collaborate.

00:05:10

Jason Mudd

SEO and PR share more than you might think. Here are three similarities. Both start with the audience's question, not the company agenda. Both reward clarity: facts first, clean headlines, short sentences. Both compound. Each takes time to build, and it keeps paying off.

00:05:32

Jason Mudd

Now the three differences. One, control. You control your website. Reporters control their stories. We pitch, they decide. Second, audience. You write for a searcher, a human who's searching. We write for the outlet's readers, viewers, or audience. Their audience comes first, not necessarily our client and their agenda, and not our keyword or keyword phrases. Third, speed. You can publish today. Earned media takes longer.

00:06:02

Jason Mudd

Those differences make collaboration important and valuable. You build the foundation. We earn the third-party proof. Together, you give AI platforms more to cite.

00:06:19

Jason Mudd

The Muck Rack report includes a finding SEO pros will love. The question decides which content gets cited. On how-to questions, practical guides make up 68% of citations. On best-of questions, buyer's guides and reviews lead at 45%. On industry-trend questions, expert analysis leads at 41%.

00:06:49

Jason Mudd

I realize I'm quoting a lot of percentages and stats here. Thank you for staying with me, because this is all very important to you, your profession, your employment, and your employer. This all creates a clear division of labor.

00:07:04

Jason Mudd

For "how do I" questions that you want to rank for, so that when someone searches or prompts a "how do I" question, search engine optimization leads. You build the step-by-step guide on your site. Public relations helps amplify and spread the content of that guide.

00:07:28

Jason Mudd

Now, for "what's the best" questions, public relations leads. We earn review coverage and placement in buyer's guides.

For "where is the industry going" questions, public relations leads again. We place original analysis and expert commentary in your company's name and the names of your executives, spokespersons, and experts.

00:07:49

Jason Mudd

That last one deserves emphasis. Thought leadership deserves investment. A distinct, informed point of view on where your industry is going gives AI something worth citing. Repeating what everyone else says adds little value.

00:08:09

Jason Mudd

Here's my takeaway for CMOs. Bring your communication and content teams together around these questions. Develop a unique point of view. Support it with evidence. Give journalists and customers something worth reading.

00:08:25

Jason Mudd

One more finding supports collaboration. No single earned media placement is cited by all four major platforms. Only 212 websites appeared across all of them. In other words, ask ChatGPT the same question twice, and only 41% of its cited sources repeat. Perplexity repeats 94% of the time.

00:09:02

Jason Mudd

Forbes is the only news outlet in the top 10 across all four platforms. That's notable. It also shows how different the platforms are. Twelve major publishers nearly vanished from ChatGPT citations for a period of time this year. Some have returned.

00:09:25

Jason Mudd

So when you're doing public relations and media relations for earned media coverage, build a portfolio: national outlets, trade outlets, regional outlets, local outlets, and then useful content on your own website. Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity cite much smaller outlets than ChatGPT does. Claude, in particular, likes small trade, local, and regional news outlets. Many PR pros miss or overlook that opportunity.

00:09:59

Jason Mudd

Now, how do we go about earning that coverage? First of all, subscribe to On Top of PR. We cover this topic frequently. But let me start with a warning. Some teams hear "AI reads press releases," and they start issuing them more than ever. Some even use AI agents to write releases for AI agents to read. I understand the instinct. The data points the other way. Press releases account for about 1% of AI citations.

00:10:29

Jason Mudd

You should be writing for journalists, not for AI agents. Give them a story worth covering, facts they can use, and context that explains why it matters. Distributing an announcement for machines is a weak strategy. Earning a journalist's coverage is a much stronger one.

00:10:49

Jason Mudd

I'm known for saying this: You can't slap the words "press release" on a blog post, post it on a commercial newswire like PR Newswire, Business Wire, or GlobeNewswire, and expect coverage. Syndication can create default pickups, but it rarely earns a reporter's attention unless you're Nike, Tesla, Ford, Coca-Cola, etc.

00:11:12

Jason Mudd

Here's the better path. Four steps. Start with the news, not the blog post. Ask, "Who cares, and why should they care?"

If the honest answer is "just us," keep it on your blog.

00:11:23

Jason Mudd

Rewrite it as news. Use the inverted pyramid. Put the most important facts first. Follow AP Stylebook style. Skip your company name in the headline. Yep, that's right. Lead with the finding, publish real numbers, and give your executive a quote with a sharp opinion, not hype. Write it for the outlet and, more important, for the outlet's audience, not your C-suite, not your leadership team, and not your shareholders.

00:11:51

Jason Mudd

Then borrow your search engine optimization instincts. Add three to five short FAQs inside the release. Yes, inside the release. That's now acceptable. They help reporters. They also help AI extract the facts. Remember, a news release is a baby step. It supports a pitch. It doesn't replace one.

00:12:13

Jason Mudd

Pitch it first. Don't post it on your blog yet. Reporters want first dibs. It's called news because it's new. If it's already on your blog, they're not going to be interested. They're unlikely to cover a story you already published.

00:12:28

Jason Mudd

Blog after they cover it. Link inside that blog post to the coverage, then expand your commentary beyond what the story itself included. That post strengthens your owned slice with fresh third-party proof, aka earned media coverage from a credible news outlet. If the story doesn't prove newsworthy, then publish it as a blog post and move on. You've lost nothing but a little bit of time. You went to the market to try to raise your visibility and credibility.

00:12:59

Jason Mudd

Here's the mindset behind those four steps. Stop asking reporters to promote your company. Start giving them a reason to include you in their news stories. I'm going to say this again, because it's so important. Stop asking reporters to promote your company. Start giving them a reason to include you in their news stories.

00:13:25

Jason Mudd

All right, let's set expectations for your SEO team and your chief marketing officer. I'll give you three. One, time. Coverage takes months to build. Reporters need to know you and trust you. Nearly half of cited journalism covers breaking or recent news. Fresh, steady coverage helps. One big placement a year won't carry you. One big placement a year won't work. Plan for steady coverage in the outlets AI platforms read.

00:13:55

Jason Mudd

Number two, control. Reporters choose their sources. We rarely see the final lineup of who they're going to quote, source, and interview for a story. Good journalism typically cites at least three sources. Your executive might share the story with others. That's healthy. Audiences trust stories with several voices. If anyone guarantees coverage, you're

buying advertising or something else. I think it's going to be unethical, and you'll be disappointed in the results.

00:14:25

Jason Mudd

Third, measurement. Don't judge success by one prompt on one platform. Use a stable prompt set. Run each prompt more than once. Report by platform, track ranges over time, record model changes, and count citations and answer mentions separately. You already know how to measure. Apply that skill to citations.

00:14:48

Jason Mudd

You might wonder where media relationships fit into this conversation. Do they matter? Are they the most important part? I have a strong opinion, and I'll save the full debate for a future episode. For now, here's my short answer. I'd rather pitch a great story than rely on being a reporter's best friend. A relationship always helps. A relationship helps open the door. But the story itself decides whether the reporter walks through the door and engages in that story.

00:15:19

Jason Mudd

I've seen this happen time and time again. On a regular basis, my team and I will reach out to a journalist we have a relationship with. They'll take our call, they'll answer our text, and they'll respond to our email, but they won't always cover the story if it's not good enough. But if we have a great story, that's a great way to begin and build a relationship with a complete stranger.

00:15:37

Jason Mudd

Y'all, everything I'm talking about here, we tested ourselves. We've been the shoemaker's kids, focusing on our clients and not taking care of ourselves, not building enough visibility and earned media coverage for ourselves. I decided in Q2 that we needed to raise the number of leads we were getting, and we needed to practice what we preach.

00:16:00

Jason Mudd

So in late July, we earned the kind of coverage we earn for clients. Interviews and placements ran in Fox News, the New York Post, OK! Magazine, and business journals across the U.S. After just one month of treating ourselves like a

client, August brought us 51 new leads. Last August, we had 33 leads. That's a 54% increase right after the coverage ran.

00:16:27

Jason Mudd

Now, I won't claim full attribution. Correlation isn't proof, but earned media and lead volume moved together, according to our own numbers. That's why a growing share of our new business is coming from search engine optimization firms. They're seeing the same data I'm sharing with you today. They realize they need to add media relations to their SEO strategy and SEO services.

00:16:53

Jason Mudd

So here's your 2027 plan in three moves. One, ask your chief marketing officer who leads media relations. Two, pitch one newsworthy story this month. Three, pitch first and blog about it second.

00:17:06

Jason Mudd

If you have not yet listened to our episode with Laura Ries about "The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR," I highly encourage you to check it out. We talk about why it's important to lead with PR first. Exhaust the newsworthiness of each of your announcements, then start to put it in your paid, owned, and shared channels. But give news and newsrooms first dibs.

00:17:31

Jason Mudd

One last reminder. If this episode helped you, please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform or at ratethispodcast.com/ontopofpr. Each review enters you in our monthly drawing for On Top of PR swag. And remember, reporters don't promote companies. They tell stories. Give them a good reason to include you in their next one.

00:17:58

Jason Mudd

If you lead search engine optimization, let's collaborate. Find more resources at axiapr.com/resources, or book a consultation with me and my team. We'd be happy to talk through this with you. I'm Jason Mudd with Axia Public Relations. I'll see you next time as we help you stay on top of PR.

Topics: SEO, On Top of PR, solocast, artificial intelligence